


Rosegate

by SadAndDeadWinchester (dekusicepack)



Category: Original Work, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: I had too much fun with this, Wingfic, inspired fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 05:52:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 9,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3476918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dekusicepack/pseuds/SadAndDeadWinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>--</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Audeamus (Let Us Dare)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/660212) by [guyi (yujael)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yujael/pseuds/guyi). 



> Heavily inspired by guyi's Audeamus.
> 
> Don't ever let me write.

_“Pulvis et umbra sumus.” -Horace_

_1_

\- - -

_“Ok, how do we even start this? One time I met this guy with wings, we killed a bigass dragon?”_

_“Not like that, that’s for sure- rip the page out, that was dumb.”_

_\- - -_

_“Hi, I’m Devon and this idiot sitting next to me- ah dammit, they can’t see that it’s a book- is Ray.”_

_“Don’t swear in it, dumbass!”_

_“Ok, fine- wait, hey! Let’s just try that again, but better._

_\- - -_

_“I’m Devon, and the-“_

_“-incredibly stunning-“_

_“-ugh-The person with me is Ray.”_

_“You probably know us from the whole Mavra fiasco a year or so ago. Yeah, we killed her.”_

_“This is the story of how we killed her, and the whole mess that Ray caused with the Alati alongside it.”_

_“He helped too.”_

_“Anyways, this is also the story of our adventures through Audeamus and how the humans and Alati met.”_

_“It’s also a really boring story to tell anybody, so just throw this book at them instead,”_

_“Ray, we can’t tell people to throw books at each other.”_

_“Dear Azeroth, how are we going to get this published- Let’s get on with this!”_

_“We can start when we met-“_

_“You mean, when you screamed at me, cut off half my guide feathers, and called me a harpy?”_

_“Hey, first impressions don’t matter at all. Harpy.”_

_“...I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. On with it.”_

_\- - -_

The road from the smoldering wrecks of Rosegate was a long strip of sun warmed rose brick, the stones in the corners of the brick glimmering in the morning light; the same light blocked every few seconds by the sweeping shadow of the huge dragon soaring above the town. Ray stood at the collapsed gateway at the entrance to the town, tears making trails in the soot that streaked his face. He brought up an arm, wiping his face dry and smudging up the soot even more. A sob escaped from him, and he tried his best to stifle the ones after.

“I didn’t leave you alive to cry, Ire.” The dragon landed, shifting into the shadowy shape of a tall woman. “You’re alive to spread the word that I’ve returned, not to bawl about it! You would think I was some circus clown, not Mavra the dragonshifter!” she snarled, eyes turning draconian momentarily. Ray moved a foot back, hand sliding to the sword he had found a year ago in the wrecks of a cabin in the woods.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I’ll just go throw a party now, frickin’ roses everywhere, a big banner- ‘A dragon lady is coming to kill everybody! Yay!’- We’ll even get _champagne_!” A loud screech rang through the air as he pulled the sword out of its sheath, his eyes burning with tears. The sun glinted off the green blade. “You killed all of them, you literally killed my entire family, all my friends, and you think I’m going to be your spokesperson or some shit?”

Mavra raised her head in contempt, tossing her mane of dark hair back. “It’ll come eventually. Go from this place. Why would you stay?” Her smile was cold and cruel. “There’s nothing here for you but bones and dragonlings, little one.” Ray resheathed his sword, hands shaking. Shadows pooled at her feet and she disappeared, only leaving the echoes of a laugh.

Ray took a shaky breath and pulled his bag back onto his shoulders, setting out on the long red road towards an uncertain future.


	2. Chapter 2

Weeks later, Ray grumbled as he went down the road, his every step sending up slate dust. The trees arched over him, providing cover from the hot afternoon sunlight. A pass cut through the dusky stone rising from the ground, minerals giving color to the bright bands striping the rock. Ray entered the pass, glancing around him warily. The dragonlings- Mavra’s familiars that had preceded her arrival and scourged the land now- had grown more aggressive after every town she destroyed, and Ray had the scars to show it. The whistle of air flowing over wings shot through the air above him, and he immediately drew his blade.

“Shit, I am so not in the mood for a dragonling!-“ Green flashed in the air as Ray slashed at the figure above him. It crashed onto the ground and let out a considerably human yell.

“What the _hell_ did you do that for? My guide feathers are tattered, you idiot-“ The person sat on the ground a few feet in front of Ray, his hands clutching the ragged edge of one of his huge multishaded green wings.

“It takes so long to graft feathers!” he mourned. “You must be from the outskirts of Ad Astra or something, they do that-“ He looked up, bright green eyes widening as he recognized that it wasn’t another winged person. “Oh shit, or a human.” He snapped his wings behind him, feathers ruffled.

Ray stared at the person.

He stared back.

“Who- or _what_ \- the hell are you?” Ray scratched the back of his head. “I mean, you’re obviously a harpy or something-“

“What? No!” The person stood up in front of Ray, wings folded neatly behind him. “You’ve already seen me, so it’s no use trying to lie. I’m Devon, and I’m Alati. In your language, that would be ‘winged one’.” He crossed his arms, irritation coloring his features. “And I am not a harpy.”

Ray raised an eyebrow, pulling his glasses down and inspecting Devon. “...Are you sure about that?” Devon threw up his arms in frustration, his wings mirroring the motion.

“This isn’t a situation I want myself in right now, ok? And now I have to bring you to Ad Terram, great. Just great!” The complaining went on for a few minutes, giving time for Ray to look Devon over.

He was tall, with arms that had clearly been swinging a sword for years. The daylight reflected off his short messy auburn hair, framing his freckled face. His eyes were the exact shade of green as the brightest feathers in his wings, leaving Ray to wonder if that was coincidence or some weird genetic bird person thing. He had on traveling gear, a simple shirt and hip-length jacket with straightlegged pants tucked into sturdy boots. What interested Ray most was the sword hanging at Devon’s belt- an almost identical match to the one in his hand. He let a confused noise come out of his mouth, eyes fixed on the green sword. “What the hell...”

Devon stopped his ranting and took a deep breath. “Anyways. You’re coming with me.”

“What?” Ray looked up from the sword, eyebrows raised. “Uh, no? No.”

Devon sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. Ray noticed his wings behind him rising up in a similar motion to Devon’s arms, and made a mental note of it. “You have to, I just screwed up a millennia-old pact and you’re my ticket out of a shitshow.”

Ray shot him an incredulous look. “What pact? The ‘Don’t Fly Over Humans Above 80 Miles per Hour’ pact of the... Allotee, or whatever you said you were called?”

Instead of the then-expected snarky response, Devon pulled at his hair, features stressed.    

“No. You’re the first human to even see Alati in the past 2,000 years on this side of the Ridge. I broke _that_ pact.”

“Oh. That uh, sounds bad. Is that bad, because it sounds like it-“

A shrill shriek resounded through the air above Devon’s head, and Ray ducked and pulled the Alati down.

“It’s a dragonling! Stay down, I can get it-“ Devon shoved Ray’s hand off his arm. “I’m fully capable of killing it, smartass!” Ray rolled his eyes and shot up, waiting for the dragonling to land.

Shadows coalesced into a human shape, forming completely within seconds. The dragonling waved at Devon, a wicked smile slashed through its face.

His wings arched like a cat’s back, and he stepped in front of Ray.

“I’ve got this.” Ray attempted to duck around Devon, ending up with a face-full of feathers. “The hell are you doing? It takes more then one person to take one of them down-“

Ray heard a little laugh come from Devon, and looked up to see his wings spread.

“It only takes one Alati.” With a huge whooshing noise, Devon soared into the air and drew his sword, keeping himself a few feet above Ray’s head. The dragonling growled, dark wings unfurling from its back. Devon flew feet first at the dragonling, slamming it onto the ground with a sword at its neck and his feet on his chest. Swinging the shining blade back, he dispatched the creature with a single hit. Murmuring something in a language Ray couldn’t understand, he knelt and ran his fingers through the charred dust left behind.

“There.” His wings brushed the ground as he made his way over to Ray, who was sitting on the ground with wide eyes.

“How the hell did you do that? I have to chop at them for a frickin’ ridiculously long time and you just-just- Executed him, or something!” Devon sat cross-legged on the ground in front of Ray, his feathers splayed out on the ground as he wiped the dust off his sword. After he had polished the blade to its’ former gleam, he sheathed it and looked at Ray.

“I’ve been fighting those...things off for months after Mavra destroyed a village near my home. That wasn’t my best flying anyways, because of the guide feather mishap.” He dipped his head, spinning a bracelet around his wrist made out of the same green metal as their swords.

Ray took in a deep breath, trying to hide his anxiety and shock. “Please don’t tell me you’re talking about the same Mavra that I’m thinking of.”

“Huge dark dragon, turns into a crazy woman with black hair?”

“ _Shit_.”

The bracelet slid faster around Devon’s wrist as he talked. “She attacked Ad Hydromea about two months ago, and... well, it’s not pretty. Her brother was destroying the Gates on the other side of the Ridge until a mercenary group got him and his dragon form. Some human and an Alati took him down, but the Alati was pretty banged up... I haven’t actually seen anybody from Ad Astra or Ad Lucem on this side of the Ridge since then, barring the occasional messenger coming to Andromeda.”

Ray shook his head in confusion. “You’ve got to slow down; I barely understood any of that weird bird news.”

“You’d better get used to it fast, because you’re coming back to Ad Terram with me.”

Ray sighed, looking up to the sky for some sort of guidance. “Please tell me it isn’t far.” Devon considered this; He then pulled a roll of paper out of his bag, unfurling it onto the ground. It was a map of the Mercurial and Gaeic regions of Audeamus, but with markings, village names, and roads on it that Ray had never seen.

“On wing, it’s about a half hour. On foot? Maybe 2 hours.” Devon looked Ray up and down. “Where were you traveling to anyways? You look like you’re crossing the continent or something.” “I’m just...looking for people, I guess you could say. Yeah, looking.” Ray said, voice low. The bracelet’s spins slowed as Devon realized what Ray was implying. His wings shuddered behind him, mimicking his shoulders.

“Pulvis et umbra sumus. Volvitur in terram suam unde erat.” Devon responded quietly. “It’s an Alati phrase, used at funerals. ‘We are but dust and shadow. Everything returns to the earth from which it came.’”

“What language even is that? I’ve only heard Audeamic and Gaeic, that’s some ancient shit!”

“Praesent Alati, non mirror simper audirunt. Et laboramus operantes custodiat nos secrete, quod etiam linguae nostrae.” Ray shook his head, awed. “I’m not even gonna ask.”

“That in Audeamic would be, ‘It’s Alati, I’m not surprised you’ve never heard it. We work hard to keep ourselves a secret, including our language.’”

“I won’t have to speak that lingual idiocy in your city, right?”

Devon shook his head. “Most of Ad Terram’s residents learn the second language- Audeamic- in school. You shouldn’t have much trouble. Unlike me.” He dragged a hand through his hair, calm demeanor cracking. “I’m in so much trouble, dear Azeroth- We need to get moving.”

Ray sighed, pulling his bag back on and moving to stand.

Devon sat on the ground, expectancy on his face. Ray looked at him, looked over in the direction Devon had identified as the direction of Ad Terram, and looked back.

“Uh, should I... start walking, or?” He shuffled his feet on the dusty rock. Devon smacked his forehead, letting out a swear in Alati. “I have to graft on my guide feathers, usually we have other Alati do it- Sorry, I’m just not used to this-“

“Let me just stick your dumb feathers on; but if you try to graft feathers onto any part of my body, I _will_ stab you.” Ray sat down behind Devon, setting his bag back down and opening it. After rummaging around for a few moments, he came back up with a small bottle of hide glue and some peacock feathers he’d plucked from the bird in a hunt with his cousin in Gaea years ago.

“Ok, which shade of green do you want? Ridiculous or outrageous?” Devon twisted around, features incredulous.

“I have molted feathers for that!”

Ray’s shoulders rose, and he pulled a grossed-out face. “You _molt_?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“No, it makes sense but- erughhh! That’s nasty! Frickin’ feathers everywhere and weird fluffy crap-“ He gagged, exaggerating his reactions. Devon smacked a pot of greenish glue and a bag of feathers onto his legs, turning back around in a huff.

“Now, you have to strip all the soft parts of-“ Ray had already finished two of the feathers before Devon finished his sentence. “How did you do that so fast?”

“I’m an archer; I’ve been making my own arrows for years. If I couldn’t fletch at the speed of frickin’ fast, I’d be dead.” Ray’s fingers went methodically through Devon’s wings, trimming down broken feathers with his dagger and refletching them with the right type of molted feather. After a few minutes, he finished.

“Dude, your wings are so fluffy!” He slid his fingers along the top of Devon’s wing, rustling the pale green fluff there. The Alati shot up, face red. “Ok, uh- maybe that’s- Um-“ Ray tilted his head, genuinely confused. “What?”

“I’ll mark it up to cultural differences, but uh. Try not to do that a lot.” Devon mumbled, face still red. Ray shrugged, repacking his bag and getting up. “Whatever. So, where’s the foot trail?” Devon’s face slid into a sort of sneaky smirk. “Oh, there is none. We’re going by wing.”

“What? How do you expect me to follow?...”

“Well, you’re going to hold on tight, and try to not scream too loudly.”

“Okay! Wait, WHAT?” Devon smiled devilishly, swooping into the air with a powerful downthrust and grabbing Ray by his pack straps.

“HOLY SHIIII-“ Devon laughed, pulling Ray into the air and soaring off towards Ad Terram.


	3. Chapter 3

_“That was so much fun.”_

_“I was literally screaming swears at the top of my lungs, and you dropped me into a tree!”_

_“I’ve never flown carrying someone before, it was fun!”_

_“What the hell is your idea of fun?”_

_“...Y’know, that’s pretty close to it.”_

_“Sometimes I doubt you calling yourself intelligent.”_

_“Ray, I’ll have you know I can speak four languages and do math your species hasn’t even discovered yet.”_

_“We’ve gone over this, you can’t speak Pigeon.”_

_“What’re you even saying?”_

_“That’s a good question that I will never answer.”_

_“What? - Ok, we’ve wasted so much paper. Onto Ad Terram.”_

_“God, that place was confusing, you never explained that Alati guy who was literally me.”_

_“Oh, that Guardian in Ad Lucem? Yeah, I’m never going to explain him. He asked me to keep you as confused as possible.”_

_“...Wow. He really is me.”_

_“One Ray Ire is enough, thank you very much.”_

_“Wow. Just_ wow _.”_

_\- - -_

Ray collapsed onto the sunbaked ground outside the gates of Ad Terram, lying spread-eagled and staring up at the sky.

“That was literally the most terrifying experience of my life. I hate you, and your stupid bird face, so much right now.” Devon sat leaning up against a gatepost, trying desperately to control his laughter and not getting very far.

“I didn’t think- you would hit a tree- Pffhaha-“ He dissolved into laughter, clutching his ribs.

Ray raised his arms in the air. “You dropped me _INTO THE TREE_. What did you think would happen, the tree would disappear?” Devon was wiping tears out of his eyes, trying to compose himself. He took one look at Ray and burst out laughing.

“What? What are you even laughing at?”

“You have- pfff- you have leaves in your hair!” Devon stifled a laugh, wiping his face again and calming down. “Dear Azeroth, that was the funniest thing that’s happened in a year.” He stood with legs shaking, and threw out his wings to balance himself as he wobbled over to Ray.

Ray grabbed his proffered arm and pulled himself up.

“Neaten yourself up, and we’ll head in, Leafy.”

“I hate you.”


	4. Chapter 4

Ad Terram wasn’t like any village Ray had ever seen. Some of the houses were suspended in trees, with a network of rope bridges linking them together. The rest on the ground looked like the log cabins Ray had seen in his travels on the Rose Road, except some of the corner posts looked like they had grown right out of the ground. Devon led him towards a building suspended in the trees, a spiral staircase in between. A woman with smooth turquoise feathers stood in front, and she recognized Devon immediately. With a bow of her head, she let the two go by.

“Why did she bow at you?” Ray asked, confused. Devon shifted his weight from foot to foot, standing on the step.

“Respect, I guess.” They made it to the top of the staircase, with a huge door standing in front of them. Devon pulled it open and strolled in like he owned the place. Ray stood in the doorway, eyes wide with wonder. “Holy shit, this place is _huge_!” He ran in, springing from chair to painting to vase like a Slinky on a sugar high. “This stuff is fancy as hell! You guys use that green metal as decoration? That’s like hanging up diamonds as mirrors- Woah! What’s this?” A feminine laugh came from behind Ray.

“I see you two finally got here.”

\- - - - -

_“I can’t believe she was standing there the whole time.”_

_“There’s this concept called observing your surroundings. You might want to try it more.”_

_“Says the guy who flew right over a human.”_

_“Shut it!”_

\- - - - - -

Ray whipped around to see a regal woman with rich caramel wings and long auburn hair standing a few yards behind him, her hands clasped behind her back. “I’m Ales Ramsey, the Chief of Ad Terram and regent-queen of the Eastern Alati. And you’re the human Devon...had a run-in with.” Her eyes were stern, and Devon’s wings drooped under her look.

“I didn’t see him in the pass...” he mumbled, cheeks flushed.

She raised an eyebrow. “Or you were speed-flying again.” Devon surreptitiously tucked in the goggles hanging out of his bag. “Anyways. Take a seat, both of you.” Devon sat immediately in the nearest chair; Ray took his time, trying to figure out the wing-compatible chairs. He settled uncomfortably into the only regular armchair in the room, which even then had an abnormally low back.

“Devon, you know how damaging this could be to your...upcoming occupation. The King was worried the second Myna reported from her watch that you had run into a human. We’ve kept ourselves secret for a reason, and you of all Alati should know that.” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. “I thought you had learned from the reports of that Guardian and mercenary bunch in Ad Lucem.”

“Gavin and the Achievement Hunters were heroes! They killed Mavra’s brother!” Devon argued.

“They also set a dangerous precedent, and started one of the riskiest relationships in the world.” Ales countered, her calm reaction a stark contrast to Devon’s anger.

“Just because a human and Alati are in a relationship doesn’t make it risky, unless it’s risking your perfect isolation-“

“Enough.” Ales’s calm demeanor had frazzled, and in that moment, Ray could see the weight of being a leader crease her face. “Not only do I have a huge amount of work on my hands because of this mistake, I also have to deal with Mavra and her attacks. I don’t have the time to argue, Devon.”

“Wait,” Ray interrupted. “We can handle Mavra.” Devon turned towards Ray, expression incredulous.

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” Ray balled his hands into fists.

“I’ve got something to tell her, and it’s green and shiny.”

Ales cut Devon off before he had even started. “Devon may be able to redeem himself as a Guardian if he helps you with this. I would, however, like to see this sword you’re talking about.” Ray drew his sword, slipping his hand through his dagger loop and making sure it was still there. He presented the hilt to Ales, who took it in hand. She drew the sword through the air above her palm, inspecting the blade.

Devon looked concerned. “It could be greened steel.”

“No, it’s definitely greenmetal. Where did you get this?” Ales asked, and Ray had a feeling whatever answer he gave wouldn’t be the right one.

“I found it in a cabin a few hours outside of Rosegate a year or so ago. It was completely wrecked and abandoned, so I thought I would be alright-“

“Wait; there aren’t any Alati villages for at least fifty kilometers around Rosegate!” Devon looked concerned. “Unless a stray had greenmetal?...” Ray pondered on what a kilometer was until Ales spoke up. “That would have been Ori.” She said, voice soft. Devon bit his lip, eyes shifting to the window.

“Who’s Ori?...” Ray trailed off, seeing Ales’s reaction. “...Never mind.” Ales looked at the sword, and handed it back with care to Ray.

“Take good care of that sword, Ray Ire. You can stay with Devon as long as you need to before you set out to defeat Mavra.” She turned, resting her hands on the railing of the balcony. Ray and Devon got up, starting to leave until Ales spoke again.

“You two can only defeat her together. Remember that.” Her voice was full of sadness and remorse. “Don’t make my mistake, Devon.” She turned and smiled, her face a forced mask of cheerfulness over her obvious distress. “Keep your feathers clean.” Devon’s face flushed all the way up to his ears, and he snapped back the wing he was about to smack Ray’s head with. Ray puzzled over this statement, as he did most of the weird Alati sayings he’d heard in the last day.

“Do I want to know what that means?” Ray inquired.

“Absolutely not.”


	5. Chapter 5

_“I still can’t believe she guessed that early on! She really did you a favor, letting you speedfly around the Rose Road.”_

_“I mean, it did lead to her meeting a certain human someone, so there’s that.”_

_“So...Technically, Ales did_ herself _a favor?”_

_“Are you surprised, Ray? Are you actually surprised?”_

_“If I said I was, I’d be lying. So, yes.”_

_“What?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“I- You know what, I give up.”_

_\- - -_

Devon led Ray through Ad Terram, pointing out stores and translating signs for him. On their way to Devon’s cabin, Ray noticed all the children had fluffy white wings, like the dinky little drawings he’d seen in books. He pointed this out to Devon, who responded “All the kids start out with blank wings; our flight feathers grow in colored.” He showed Ray a tuft of white down on the inside of his left wing, right near the crease. “Sometimes they don’t ever grow in fully, and some Alati completely keep that coloring, like- Ah! There she is!” Devon waved over a pale girl with long platinum blonde hair and snow-white wings tipped with red. “This is Myna; her flight feathers grew in the same color as her down.”

“Until I dragged them through a puddle cherry sap and stained them permanently.” She remarked.

Myna was tall and willowy, with cream-colored clothes and whited-out goggles perched on her head. The way Devon smiled at her made something tug in Ray’s stomach that he couldn’t identify. She shared a joke with Devon that Ray didn’t understand at all, and sashayed away on “scouting business, to make sure no more princes go breaking contact pacts flirting with humans.”

“Wait, princes? What’re you, the Prince of Impracticality?” Devon waved it off as an inside joke, but Ray was suspicious of his avoidance. “And how did Ales know you so well? You two seemed like that argument was ages long, and she knew about your habits-“

“If my own mother didn’t know my flying habits, I’d be pretty concerned.”

Ray’s eyes bugged. “Mother? But she said-“

“That she was Chief and regent-queen of the Eastern Alati? Yeah, annoying title.”

“Devon, that means you’re a prince! Wait, do you guys rule over humans too, or what-“

“No, just a few hundred kilometers of sparse villages and routes.”

“...And that would be in normal measurements?...”

“About a thousand square miles?” Devon kept walking along the dirt path, hands in his pockets and wingtips dusting the ground.

“That’s absolutely ridiculous- Wait, so Ales is your _actual mom_?” Devon nodded.

“Dude. Wowza.” Devon shoved Ray with his shoulder.

“That’s my mom and the regent Alati queen you’re talking about!”

“Doesn’t make her less scary-hot.”

“Ugh, humans. On a better note, we’re here.”

Ray looked around, not seeing anything.

“And... where would here be?” Devon pointed out a cabin with one of its posts being a gigantic oak tree. The front was decorated with wind chimes made of greenmetal, tinkling and stirring in the light breeze. Ray walked to the huge tree, marveling at how it blended almost seamlessly into the house.

“It took me two years to convince the previous owner, this Guardian from Ad Lucem, to trade houses with me.” Devon’s wings puffed out behind him with pride, and he showed Ray inside.

“We’ll stay a night or two, and then set out. The tree is the guest room, you can take the loft.” Ray perked up at this, and he ran over the natural maple floor to the beautifully sculpted doorway Devon had idly waved a hand at before. After thoroughly examining the place, he set his bag down and made his way back into the main house to talk to Devon about their journey. Ray guessed it would be long; he didn’t guess just how important it would be.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Augh, this really never was meant to be broken into chapters but I don't have the time to reformat it.

_“And here it starts.”_

_“The adventure or what happened during the adventure?”_

_“Arguably, the second started on that flight to Ad Terram.”_

_“Really? For me I think it was that first fight with the arai.”_

_“Ray, I almost stabbed you multiple times during that fight, and I had to carry you to-“_

_“That, right there. After, when I woke up.”_

_“The-“_

_“Bracelet, yeah.”_

_“Ray, that’s...that’s really sweet.”_

_“Holy crap, are you tearing up? Wait, wait, you’ll get tears on the pages!”_

_\- - -_

They set out the next morning, following the Lapis Road.

Ray scouted in front of Devon, warily looking around with his sword out. He didn’t like the closed-in passes they were in, even with the occasional check flight from Devon to look for dragonlings.

“So,” Devon asked as they walked along. “What happened with Mavra? Do you know why she attacked your village?”

Ray was quiet for a moment, watching the morning sun glimmer on his sword. “I don’t know. I was out hiking around and uh...collecting plants-“

“Were you picking flowers, Ray?”

“Accusations may be true. Anyways, I was out plant-collecting, and when I came back to the gate the entire village was already up in flames.” The silence echoed between his sentences. “I stood there, just- Just watching, because I didn’t know what to do. I don’t think the shock had hit me until Mavra declared me her announcer, or something stupid like that.” He looked down at his moving feet, hands tucked into his pocket.

“I can’t begin to even say how sorry I am, Ray.” Devon looked over at him, green eyes full of remorse.

“Yeah.” Ray kicked a rock in front of him, scuffing the blue dust into the air.

They walked along for what felt to Ray like miles before anything happened. Devon was on one of his check flights, when he yelled down to Ray. “ARAI!”

“THAT’S NOT HOW YOU PRONOUNCE MY NAME, BUT AYY TO YOU TOO?”

“NO, UGH- ARAI! CURSES! DUCK!” Ray hit the ground just as something swooshed over him, rolling out of the way. He sat up, watched as the creature twisted midair, and snarled at him. Multitudes of copies spilled out from the surrounding bluffs, filling the air with twenty or thirty arai.

Devon landed in front of him, sword drawn. “These things are nasty as hell, don’t kill them!”

“What?” Ray asked, head tilted in confusion.

“Why wouldn’t you kill them- WOAH!” The leading creature swept at Ray, and he took its wings off with a swipe of his sword and stabbed it into the ground. A burning pain filled his chest and back, and he stumbled, bracing his feet on the ground. He cut another in two, slashed one to pieces, and stabbed another before he collapsed with pain against the pass wall. “What the _hell_?”

Devon cleanly decapitated ten, twenty, thirty of the arai. He swept through their numbers, decimating all of them before he could make it to Ray. “Unless you behead them, the pain of their injuries extend to you.” His eyes were wide and his eyebrows knit.

“Ray, dear Azeroth- Your face-“ Ray had sliced his sword across one of the arai’s faces and his forehead was a bloody mess. Devon knelt in front of Ray and began to pull out medical supplies from his bag. “I’ll wrap your head and disinfect it, we should be alright then. Keep looking at me Ray, holy shit this is a lot of blood-“ Devon grew more and more worried as Ray’s vision grew more and more blurry.

“Shit, _shit_ \- You blinded one of them the one you stabbed- Ray!” The last thing

Ray saw before he passed out was Devon’s face over him, eyes full of panic.


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing that passed through Ray’s mind was how uncomfortable the bed was. He blinked his eyes open, squinting at the ceiling high above him.

“Somebody’s finally awake.” Ray tried to sit up, and felt a hand push him gently back down.

“Oh no, you’re down and out for the count for a good while, friend.” Tilting his head, he looked over to see a tall Alati woman with a mess of blonde hair and ruffled peacock-colored wings leaning back in a chair next to the bed.

“You got the shit kicked out of you by arai, and you’re filled with so much medicine you’d run into the doorway ten times before you’d make it through.”

“Who the hell are you?” Ray asked, trying to get up again. The woman pushed him down again, sighing.

“I’m Rose, and you’re an idiot. You’re in Ad Lucem; your boyfriend brought you here after you decided to be an idiot.”

“Boyfriend?...” Ray’s speech was slow and slurred.

Rose covered up a snicker and responded, “I guess he hasn’t told you about Alati customs yet. The bracelet, cherry sap- how cute.”

Ray looked over at the greenmetal bracelet Devon had given them a few weeks into their journey on the Lapis Road to the last village Mavra attacked, Ad Lucem. It was made of interlocked links of greenmetal, and had a tiny bubble of dried cherry sap in the center of the latch. He blinked slowly; mind processing the information he’d been given.

“Ok, but he’s not my boyfriend?....” Ray’s sentence drifted off as Rose held back another snicker.

“Whatever you say. Anyways,” She sat up, expression more serious. “Your right shoulder was clawed up by an arai, and even with the curses gone it still was poisoned.” She tsked, setting up bandages and ointments on the table next to Ray’s bed. “You most have killed some nasty monsters in the past to get a poison curse from the arai. Devon flew you here about a week ago, and I got the poison out and sewed up the cuts. You won’t be able to move it for a few days, but after that it should be decent.”

“Wait, a week ago?” Ray asked, his head finally clearing from the grogginess of the painkillers. He sat up, and Rose let him.

“Yeah, you’ve been out for a while, Dev should be visiting soon- Ah, here he is.” Devon had poked his head through the doorway, expression doing a complete one-eighty when he saw Ray sitting up. Ray thought he looked much better then he did after their weeks of travel. Devon got the rips in his pants sewn closed, and had traded his canvas jacket in for a soft-looking scuffed leather bomber. He picked his way through the labyrinth of tables bearing medical supplies, sitting at the foot of Ray’s bed.

“I’ll be boiling water for bandages, yell if you need me.” Rose got up and strolled off into an adjoining room, leaving Ray and Devon on their own.

“You idiot.” Devon dragged his hands down his face, letting out a deep breath that seemed like he’d been holding it the entire time Ray was out.

“Rose thought you weren’t going to make it, you scared the ever-loving hell out of me. All those weeks of getting my wings sore and you just go down after taking out twenty arai, pissed me the hell off-“

Ray let out a laugh, a clear and happy sound that made Devon’s grumpy expression dissolve.

“Hello to you too, featherhead.”


	8. Chapter 8

After a few days, Ray was semi-back in action. He could fight just fine, being left handed, but the pain was harder to deal with. Devon and him were fighting off the dragonlings around Ad Lucem during the day, and tracking Mavra through Mercuria at night. He much preferred the fights.

Ray took a swing at the dragonling, slashing it into charred dust. He whipped around, dispatching another.

“You doing alright?” Devon called to him, fighting off his own herd of dragonlings.

He brushed powder off his face, mixing it with sweat. “Yeah, these are tougher then usual-“ One grabbed onto his shoulder, and flipped it onto the ground with a yell. He thrust his sword down and it exploded into crumbles carried away by the breeze. “It’s annoying as hell!”

Devon blew back a few dragonlings with his wings, cutting through them to make his way to Ray. “We’re the last Guardians in Ad Lucem that can fight, this is insane!”

“What about those guys from Ad Astra?” Ray shish kebabed two dragonlings and cut another from shoulder to hip.

“Went back, Mavra’s been hacking away at their wards- Ah, shit!” An enormous dragonling landed in front of them, its’ twisted wings unfurling in the afternoon haze.

“Get me down in front of that thing!” Ray jumped into the air over the pass. Devon swept Ray from midair, and set him down on the ground in front of the huge monster. He circled around, eyes worried. They’d fought numberless hoardes of Mavra’s soldiers in the past weeks, but never anything this big. It slammed a foot towards Ray, and he sidestepped and slashed at its legs.

Ray ran farther and grabbed onto one of its wings, slamming the flat of his sword down and breaking it.

“You get the-“

“I know!”

Devon dived in and pulled Ray up, dropping him at it’s’ neck and going to run interference on the other dragonlings. Ray plunged his sword into the creature’s neck, and watched in horror as the blade that had defended him for the past years shattered the second the hilt touched the dragonling’s hide. He jumped off as the dragonling crashed onto the ground dead, and drew his dagger in case any dragonlings dared to come near.

“Devon!” he yelled. “Shit, I really effed it up this time-“ A smaller dragonling crept toward him, and he turned to stare at it.

The dragonling crept back away.

“ _DEVON_!” He screamed it this time and Devon decimated the last creature and swept down to where Ray was.

“Hey,” Devon responded, breathless from fighting. “That huge one was terrifying, I don’t get how you ran at it like that- Wait, where’s your sword?” Ray hefted the hilt with green shards sticking out of it.

“I could have sworn you said this stuff couldn’t break.” Devon looked troubled.

“I could have sworn it didn’t. Ales isn’t going to be happy about this.” Ray drew the matching dagger, its blade much better maintained through use then the now-wrecked sword.

“We’d better head back; we’ll go over to Ad Meliora and find you a new one.”

Ray looked down at the sad little sword nubbins. “Won’t be as cool as this one, though. And your mom is gonna beat the shit out of me.” He grinned. “Maybe that won’t be so bad.”

“Dammit Ray, stop with the mom jokes!”

“Never.”

They set out walking the Chalcedony Road back to Ad Lucem, the setting sun at their backs.


	9. Chapter 9

_“Ales nearly ripped me apart when we told her after the fight with Mavra.”_

_“Azeroth, that was hilarious! I thought she was going to kick you out the window, she was so pissed about Ori’s sword!”_

_“Hey, I still have the dagger, that’s got to count for something.”_

_“That dagger’s saved me more then once, so I’ll give you that.”_

_“Yeah, saved you is a loose definition but ok-Ow!”_

_“Not in the_ book, _Ray!”_

_\- - -_

They arrived at Ad Meliora the next day, with Devon’s spirits high about finding Ray a new sword. After the usual hour of general distrust and confusion from the local Alati, they managed to get to the town’s legendary forgery.

Ray inhaled the sweet smell of applewood smoke as he walked in with Devon at his side, who was babbling about something called a falchion.

“So, it’s a broad double-edged hand and a half-“ Devon’s words droned on as Ray talked with the blacksmith -Greensmith? He wasn’t sure- and tested out their inventory on a row of steel bars in the yard.

The rapier flew out of his hand and stuck into the ground.

He could barely lift a double-handed blade.

He fell over trying to swing a Jupitarian-style sword and stubbed his toe.

Alati bows were ridiculously hard to pull back.

Spears and maces weren’t even in the question.

Everything seemed to be sprinting downhill at a breakneck pace until Devon placed a new sword into his hands.

It was made of greenmetal with a darker ridge down the middle; and it had a double-edged blade about a foot and a half long with a hilt bound in dun leather. He swung it in the air and sliced through the steel bars perfectly, knocking the free sections off with a tap of the flat of the blade. He stabbed the last one down, and the ring of greenmetal against iron hung in the air.

Ray fell in love immediately.

           He put the sword through its paces, slicing down apples thrown at him by Devon in the yard of the house they were staying in, sparring with any nearby Guardian or anyone who could semi-proficiently swing a sword. When Devon came to wake him up the next day, he found Ray sleeping next to the sheathed sword. He sighed and dragged a protesting Ray out of bed, separating him from the falchion for the first time since he’d bought it. Devon regretted ever handing him the sword.

_\- - -_

_“I still have that sword.”_

_“You’d better; it cost me more then fifty quid!”_

_“Aright, I still don’t know what the hell quid are, Devon.”_

_“I’ve told you! Little metal cubes, like coin-“_

_“Why don’t you just, I don’t know, use coin?”_

_“...”_

_“Thought so. We should actually talk about our fight with Mavra.”_

_“Eh, I’m enjoying the faffing about.”_

_“Dude, I thought you said this was a kid-friendly thing.”_

_‘Yeah, faffing about. Like, messing around, dillydallying?”_

_“What the hell is dillydallying?”_

_“Never mind. We’ll start at Ad Regia.”_

_\- - -_

The two (and Ray’s ever-present sword) ventured out on Mavra’s path the next day. After a few hours of walking and almost half a dozen dragonling scuffles, they found the village she last attacked- Ad Regia. They expected wreckage and dead Alati, and human settlements within its wards to be ruined as well.

What they didn’t expect was Aeris Ramsey- King of the Eastern Alati, Defender of Dragonrock, and Devon’s father.

And they surely didn’t expect for him to be dying from the attack.


	10. Chapter 10

_“You sure you want to write about this?”_

_“Yeah. I should; it’ll be a memoriam.”_

_“You don’t have to write about it, we can just cut it out-“_

_“Ray, I’ve got this.”_

_“If you say so.”_

_\- - -_

Ray stood outside the bedroom, shifting from foot to foot as he waited for Devon. He didn’t really understand what was going on, but Devon seemed devastated about...something with his dad? Obviously knowing your dad was dying had to suck, but Devon seemed more stressed the upset.

Devon walked out of the room, face streaked with tears. He slid down the wall next to Ray, folding his wings around himself and curling into a ball. Every few seconds, a muffled sob would come out of the feathery cocoon. Ray sat next to Devon, patting his back and doing whatever he could to comfort his friend. Devon’s wings shook every time he sobbed, and Ray’s stomach lurched with each sound.

“Is he?...”

Devon pulled his head up and dragged his hands down his face, still sniffling.

“Yeah.”

Ray shuffled closer and pulled Devon into one of his now-common side hugs, carefully avoiding his wings. Devon dropped his head onto Ray’s shoulder, still shaking from tears.

“Then, you’re-“

“Yeah. I’m king.”

Ray let out a deep breath, eyebrows knit. “Well, shit. Is that bad? Should I be worried?” Devon hiccupped out a laugh, a warm interruption in his tears.

“I’m ruling over a huge group of Alati, and I’m barely 18.” He pulled at the white patch of down on his wings, leaving wispy fluff on the floor. “And I’m still fighting off a huge dragon, and you being around isn’t helping my case with the far easterners...”

“Wait, what?” Ray had never heard about this. He knew they weren’t welcome in some of the more isolated villages because of Devon’s choice of traveling companion, but he didn’t think it was that big of a deal. So what, some bird people didn’t like him, happens everywhere.

“Humans all over are interacting with Alati, and it’s not all the most positive. They think I’m on the human side by having you around. Implumem is the nickname for me with the fartherners,” Devon curled into a tighter ball against Ray’s side.       “Featherless.”

Ray cringed; he’d learned through the scraps of Alati that Devon translated for him that featherless wasn’t something you would throw out casually. It meant to call somebody useless, incapable.

Unfit as king.

Devon didn’t just have some pissy rulers on his hands; he had the basis of a revolt. The Alati civilization would tear into shreds if there wasn’t some swift reconciliation between mankind and Alati.

“I don’t get how us fighting the dragon together that’s marking everyone is such a big deal, though.” Ray thumbed the cherry sap bead in his bracelet, other arm at Devon’s side. He thought back to what Rose had said- ‘I guess he hasn’t told you about Alati customs yet. The bracelet, cherry sap- how cute.’- and Myna, ‘scouting business, to make sure no more princes go breaking contact pacts flirting with humans.’. Was Devon flirting with him?, he pondered.

Ray had dated girls in Rosegate, had messed around with the occasional guy when he visited Ili’smera, but he didn’t really consider himself gay. Thinking back over the last three months with Devon, he realized their interactions weren’t that different, barring the physical aspect.

“-so Gavin and Michael already sent this precedent for Alati-human relationships, and the fartherners think we’re following after them and that we’re together.” Devon finished.

Ray turned his head to Devon, brown eyes meeting green. “Are we?”

“What?” Devon answered, face quickly flushing pink.

Ray backed up, rethinking his words. “I mean, are we together? Because all the Alati I meet that know you make jokes about the bracelet you gave me. And the whole wing-patting thing, Myna told me about-“

Devon muttered under his breath, “That liar, said she wouldn’t say anything.”

“-so uh, yeah.” Ray sat back, Devon looking at him.

“By the way,” he added, “I wouldn’t, uh, mind if we were a thing.” Ray mumbled out, picking at his nails. Devon kept looking at him, eyes wide and expression unreadable.

Ray took this as a clear ‘no’.

“Shit, shit- I’m sorry, they were joking I should have seen that-“ Ray rambled on, anxiety getting worse. “I’m some random human you met a few months ago, not your _boyfriend_ , I don’t know what I’m doing-“ He stopped when he felt Devon’s feathers brush his face, his wing unfolding and settling around Ray’s shoulders.

“We are.”

Ray puffed out a huge breath. “Holy shit, that was so easy, I’ve been worrying about that for the past month-“ Devon burst out laughing, while Ray mimed wiping sweat off his brow.

“You’re ridiculous, Ray Ire.”

“I try my hardest, Devon Ramsey.”


	11. Chapter 11

_“I actually found the poem I wrote for his funeral, wedged in a book the other day.”_

_“Ray, that poem was amazing! Here, let me copy it in-“_

_\- -_

_Praecurrit flumine corruptionem sui ipsuis_

_Pontibus ut videat aut non noram quam progressu_

_Manta humanam, per vicos et similiter cherub_

_Decurrit flumen pax et bellum_

_Et draco hominium_

_Orientus et ocidentis_

_Decurrit flumen, sine disrimine inter contraria_

_Non dico si ea sunt in ripis eius ex absconde aut unum aut unus aperta in umbra et cuicumque voluerit,_

_Mercurial ad Jupitarian ad umbram terrae_

_Decurrit flumen, et omnes aquae tandem penetrabant_

_Currit fluvius_

_Flumine_

_\- -_

_“It took me a month, and Ales’s help to translate everything, and I don’t think the translation is really...comprehendible, at all.”_

_“I still love it. I’ve got the copy you made-“_

_“Hung up on the wall, I know. I pass by it every day, genius.”_

_“Well, you’re pretty oblivious to your surroundings; It wouldn’t surprise me if you didn’t notice.”_

_\- - -_

After Aeris’s funeral and a solemn conversation with Ales (in which she nearly stabbed him upon learning of Ori’s sword’s fate), they set out to finally kill Mavra.

_\- - -_

_“That didn’t take forever or anything.”_

_“Oh, shut it.”_

_\- - -_

Devon finally found her at the place where it all started for them- Rosegate.

Ray picked his way through the ruins towards the spot they had seen Mavra shift back into a human, his sword drawn and quiver full of arrows. He climbed over a fallen roof, and stood on top to look at the land in front of him with horror.

Shadows had webbed all across the former fields of Rosegate, surrounding a gigantic tree-bound castle, on the top of which Mavra was perched in her half-shifted mode, wings rippling in the wind. She fluttered a hand at Ray, and he could feel the malevolence from almost a mile away. Devon landed with a thump next to him, and squeezed his free hand.

“We’ve got this,” he said, gazing up at the castle’s spires.

“Yeah, but she’s going to beat the crap out of us first.” Ray looked up at Mavra, voice morose. Devon stared right at her, and proceeded to make a gesture Ray assumed was very rude in Alati. Mavra recoiled, shifted into her dragon form and took to the sky. She circled down towards them, landing as her halfshift with a light step that sent the bells around her ankle chiming. Ray thought she looked almost normal, a tall woman with black hair in a short dress and red heels. The second he made eye contact with her, the thought dissipated. Her eyes were cinder red, pupils slitted and hinting at her more draconian side.

“Took you two forever.” She leaned to one side, hand planted on her hip.

Devon scoffed, his green eyes fiery like Ray had never seen. He had been carrying around a huge amount of anger in him since his dad died, and all of it was directed at Mavra.

“We had to stop for a list of villages, so you can pick the one you want to devastate next,” he growled.

She tutted and shook her head, hair waving down between her wings. “Pity, you two seemed so intelligent. Wiping out the only thing standing in my way just got so much more boring.” Mavra drew a sword out from the shadows surrounding her, the ruby blade glimmering. She paused for a moment, and then pushed off the ground and slashed at Ray.

The sound of greenmetal against red crystal rang through the air, as Ray brought up his sword to block. He pushed her back, almost casually and let out a slash of his own.

Mavra laughed, standing perfectly unharmed. “You might want to get your eyes checked, little hero-“ She stopped laughing when she saw a single clump of the hair that had curled around her shoulder float to the ground. Reaching up, she felt a shallow scratch over her jugular vein. She looked at Ray, eyes wide.

Ray had an almost ferocious look about him, long sword held across his front. His hair had grown out in a tangle of curls since Mavra destroyed Rosegate, and the angles of his face had sharpened.

“This isn’t a damn joke.” He advanced, Mavra backing up with tiny jingles of her anklets. “You killed my family and everyone I loved. My mom, Mariana. My dad, Ray Sr.” Ray was starting to tear up again, but his face was full of nothing but fury. “My sister, Iris. My best friend, Courtney. Those are people I’ll never see again,” he fumed.

“And you’re the reason why.” He raised his sword and parried a desperate blow from Mavra, pushing her sword back again

“Your little winged friends have been destroying my lands for years!” She raged as they traded blows, pulling herself into the air to avoid Ray’s more brutal attacks. “Thousands of my kin, dead! My brother Kione murdered by that- that disgusting mercenary group!” She screamed and lashed out with her sword, eyes blazing. Ray matched her slash for slash, hit for hit. Mavra’s eyes grew wider, and she lunged back into the air and shifted back into a dragon. Ray flicked his eyes towards Devon, who pulled him into the air and dropped him on top of Mavra’s castle.

“There’s a reason you and Kione were exiled from Ad Astra!” Mavra whipped back around, going back into halfshift and staring at Ray.

“How did you know about that!” she roared. Ray fell into a jaunty pose, adjusting his glasses and flipping through an imaginary book.

“Well, I consulted the Directory of Batshit Crazy people, and it was the little blurb underneath!” He dropped the game and looked back up at Mavra. “You think the Alati haven’t caught on? He lost. Because a human and Alati took him down.” The wild grin slid back onto his face. “And we can take you down.” Ray brought his sword up just in time to deflect a swing from Mavra, and sidestepped along the castle walls as he parried and striked. He left slashes on her legs, and kept driving her towards where Devon was waiting.

“You two- You two really think you can beat me? I’ve destroyed armies of Alati, and countless humans!” Her bragging was full of fear. She knew she wasn’t making it out of this.

“I’ve taken out hundreds of dragonlings.” Ray grinned. “And one crazy dragon lady.” With that, Devon swept up behind Ray and lifted him up. They both wrapped their hands around the greenmetal sword, and swung down.

All that was left of Mavra was dust in the air and the last echoes of a roar.

Devon glided back down to the ground, setting Ray down and landing. Ray immediately collapsed on the ground, faceplanting in the shadowy soil.

“That was literally the most terrifying experience of my life, holy shit.” His words came out muffled by the dirt.

Devon stifled a laugh, and pulled Ray up.

“You just killed the last dragonshifter in the world, if you weren’t close to pissing yourself in fright I’d worry, Ray.” Ray sheathed his sword and leaned against Devon, legs wobbly.

“Let’s go home so we can break the news and I can go pass out on a couch for, I don’t know, probably a week or so-“ Devon laughed and pulled Ray back up again, flying towards Ad Terram again.

The festival when they got back was probably the hugest party of Ray’s life.

All he remembered was Devon painting some weird red goop on his face, and a lot of dancing, and even more laughter.

He woke up the next day on top of his bed in Devon’s cabin, and stumbled into the bathroom to wash the now-crackling paint off his face. After that, he made his way to the kitchen and proceeded to devour every edible within sight and reach. Reporting the whole battle to Ales was going to be a headache, and he needed an immense amount of food to cope.


	12. Chapter 12

_epilogue, a year later_

_\- - -_

_“At the end of the journey, the dragon is dead.”_

_“The last dragon, hopefully for a while-“_

_“Hey, there’s always the Southern Range dragons. That’s where we get all the greenmetal.”_

_“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’ve had enough of mountains and dragons.”_

_“So, this is what happens when you run around with a crazy human for five months. You fight a dragon, discover more weird humans, and quell a few major rebellions-“_

_“Fall in love a little bit.”_

_“That too. Shit, you made it all sappy!”_

_“No, I think ‘quell a few rebellions’ made it sappy’.”_

_“I’m pretty sure love is sappier-_ Dammit _, Ray! We can’t go on tangents, it’s the end of the book-“_

_“Whatever. Here’s to beating the odds, and fighting crazy dragon ladies.”_

_“Vale, everyone. Hopefully this won’t be the last time you see us- There’s probably more to come.”_

_\- - -_

Ray slammed the door behind him against the wind, locking it so it didn’t fly open.

“Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the rain, Myna? Because I really hate the rain.” The pale Alati girl was tilted back in a chair, her cream boots propped up on a table.

“It’s your fault for wanting to stay in Vertrose, silly human idiot boy.” Myna remarked. She had helped Devon and Ray write up and bind their adventures into a book, providing the accounts she had written of her scouting.

“Seriously, these human settlements are in the worst places, no trees to block the weather.” Rose added. She was lying back in a chair, glowering at the ceiling like it had personally offended her for being too short for her to fly.

In the room was everyone that had helped their adventure- Myna, Rose, Dan (a friend of Ray’s from Ili’smera that had watched them slay Mavra), even Ales.

The only person missing was Devon- late as always.

Ray pulled off his cloak and threw it on a peg, collapsing into an armchair with the book on his lap.

“When the hell is bird-brain getting here?” Just then someone started thumping on the door.

“Guys? Guys! It’s really frickin’ rainy out here, let me in-“ Devon’s whining came through the door. “This isn’t funny!” Rose stifled a snicker and got up to let Devon in. He ran inside and whipped his now-soaked cloak onto the ground, shaking the water out of his feathers.

“Ugh, the smell of wet bird is only marginally better then the smell of wet dog- Stop getting water everywhere, dammit!”

“Is it finally done?” Devon scooped the book up, flipping through the pages.

“We just need a title.” Devon closed the book and inspected the front, smooth leather with Ray and his’ name scribed into the bottom.

“I’ve got absolutely nothing.” Ray yawned.

“’Humans and Alati’?” Ales suggested, not even looking up from her paperwork.

“Eh, too boring.”

“The Two Idiots Who Killed Mavra: A Story’.” Rose looked content with her title.

“Too...mean. That was just mean.”

“Well, Audeamus is already taken...” Dan pondered this, tapping his fingers on the ink bottle sitting on the table.

“How about ‘Rosegate’?” Myna twirled one of Ray’s ever-present roses between her fingers. “That’s where it all started, seems fitting to me.”

The two adventurers looked at eachother, and Devon adopted a pensive look while Ray nodded. “Rosegate sounds good.”

Ray slid the book over to Dan, and he wrote the title with green ink onto the cover.

“Rosegate it is.”


End file.
